~ Chapter 23: A new hobby ~

I always knew my little sister's sense of fashion was a bit... different, but I still allowed myself to believe that I could do something to change it for the better. After all, I got the shivers every time I imagined cute little Cassandra becoming a macho woman wearing an armor fit more for a Demon King than a lovable princess...

Thus, I was determined to make her like frilly things and dress up cutely even if it was the last thing I did! That was her destiny as dictated by her older brother! By no means was she going to become a copy of our aunty Eliza, who was a half muscles and half armor creature most of the time.

“No! You are a girl! You should wear cute stuff like that dress!” I pointed back at the tailor shop.

“Grrr! No!” she retorted.

“I say no as well!” I didn't back down.

We were glaring at each other and having such a heated discussion in the middle of the road, but our mother and aunt could only let out a tired sigh.

As children, we didn't really care about our surroundings or how we might have appeared in the eyes of adults. It was alright to be like this, and a child of our age was known to throw a tantrum from time to time.

Even if I technically knew how to behave like an outstanding adult, always acting mature and controlled would have been seen as weird and unnatural by the adults around me, so I would often allow myself to behave like a child. After all, what was so wrong about two five years-old children acting their age from time to time?

To be honest, my adult mind and past knowledge told me that a good solution would have been to get both the armor and the dress, thus solving the dilemma on both sides. After all, even I was aware of the fact that she wasn't going to head out into battle while wearing a sunflower patterned dress and wielding a soul-sucking, bone-breaking, monster-crushing sword with jagged edges and an ominous aura floating around it.

If I had chosen such a path, then I would have one way or another shown that I accepted my little sister's point of view and respected her choice in the matter, while at the same time, she would have done the same for me.

In the end, the way we presented ourselves was no different than how two little children acting spoiled would have bickered about something while stubbornly keeping their point of view and ignoring any logical input. It was good like this because in the future, we would have something to laugh about.

Even so, we weren't allowed to act like this forever. Before things derailed too much, one of the adults around us would often intervene and appease us one way or another.

This time, it was going to be our mother.

“Now, now, children. Settle down!” she said as she came between us.

With curious eyes, we both looked up at her.

“Even if you were to settle on the armor or dress, they are both too expensive for us to buy either of them right now. The armor is also too big and is designed to be worn by a man, while the dress is for an adult, not a child.” she smiled, but while she did offer a good argument.

The part about them being too expensive for us to afford was a bit of a lie, and we all knew this. Maybe what she meant to say was that she didn't have the money on her, or it was in order to keep those thieves with sharp ears from making us a target?

“But, mother...” Cassandra complained.

“Can't she wear it when she's older?” I asked, although, I was aware that proper measurements need to be taken before buying one.

Mother let out a sigh.

“No! And that's final!” she declared firmly.

Clicking our tongues at the same time, we turned our backs to each other and looked away.

“Well, children will be children, no matter how much of a prodigy they are.” aunty Eliza said and then laughed.

“Indeed.” mother agreed with a nod “Let us got to our tailor for now. We need to take both of your measurements. Cassandra needs new clothes just as much as Leonidas does, frilly or not.” she looked at me, and I instinctively pouted.

With the matter settled, we walked away from there.

The tailor mother spoke off belonged to a sweet old lady, and it was located at the next intersection. She made all of our previous clothes, and mother had a good relationship with her. Even though she was a commoner, we didn't mind. Our house held no prejudice against them, unlike other nobles.

The old lady was quick with her hands and finished the measurements in no time at all. Afterwards came a long talk with mother in order to decide the model, cost, and other things like that.

While she was doing that, I noticed a small sewing kit and several rolls of fabric put on display. They had a tag underneath them and some numbers, meaning that this one was meant for sale.

I wonder if I should pick up tailoring? I could learn to make my own clothes, maybe even make cute dresses for Cassandra the way I want them. Hm... On second thought, it doesn't sound so bad! Worst case scenario, I'm just going to find out I'm absolutely horrible at it and just learn to patch up my ripped clothes in the future. The sewing kit looks good, so if I won't use it, I could always give it to Luthecia. I thought while looking at it.

With my mind set, I walked up to mother and tugged on the sleeve of her coat.

“Mother?” I called out to her.

“Hm? What is it, Leo?” she asked as she looked down at me and patted my head.

“Can I get that?” I pointed a the sewing kit put up on display.

“I don't know. Are you sure about this?” she asked furrowing her brow.

I nodded and showed her a bright smile.

“Very well, but only if you promise to be careful with the needles and scissors and never to use them when you are alone!” she lifted a finger up as she declared her conditions.

“Un! I'll be careful! I'll listen to mother!” I said and nodded.

Mother smiled and then turned towards the tailor “We'll buy the kit.” she told her.

“Some cheap cloth rolls as well... different colors too! So I can practice!” I added.

“Hm, well you surely can't practice on the clothes we have back at home.” mother said and then pondered for a bit, calculating our finances. When she came to a conclusion, she told me “Pick three from that shelf and bring them to me.”

I nodded and quickly went to choose from the assortment of colored cheap cloth rolls. Out of all of them, I got a nice lemon-yellow, a grass-green, and a light-pink to match the previous two.

With this, I was set to try my hand at tailoring!

In a world with no board games, a noble child often picked up a profession as a hobby. It wasn't that unnatural, but nobody expected them to end up being any good at it either. As long as they had fun, it didn't really matter.

Now if only the thought would have crossed his mind that maybe it’s the armor, how protective it is that’s cute to her. Maybe he could have come to the conclusion that making cute (by his definition) armor that would protect his sister would be a good compromise.

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February 9, 2017 12:33 AM

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Cythril

not sure how i feel about the MC atm like it feels that he should have been the girl and the girl should have been the boy? o-o ( i bet the god trio messed up after all!)

Thanks for the chapter

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November 29, 2016 9:41 PM

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buggaboo

He just keeps becoming more and more a total dick and the gods are liars. Hes trying to force his sister to be someone she isnt so he can please his idiotic self apparent need to coddle her and he also becoming really really annoying. Seriously how is he in any way equal to his sister? Hes annoying, arrogant, selfish, pushy and an a-hole. Please can we have a less annoying MC soon cause its going to get old real quick if he keeps acting like he is.

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November 6, 2016 8:56 AM

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Sorenmageofmareth

Dude has a point. Mc Comes off as sexist and a dick with this shallow preoccupation with gender norms and being mean to nice people cause she’s a warrior lady and the attempt to cast the sisters desire and statements as rediculous by putting them to crazy extreme. Liking weapons and armor is fine for a girl and and this preoccupation with putting them in dresses when they don’t want it and in some cases the habit will ruin their job choices is annoying. She Hulk is a literal sex icon in power suits and frilly dresses are tripping hazards.… Read more »